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| Sunday, 16 March 2003 |
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Hu appointed China's new president, but Jiang retains military power China, Saturday (AFP) Communist party chief Hu Jintao was Saturday appointed China's new president, but his predecessor Jiang Zemin retained considerable power after being re-elected commander-in-chief of the military. Hu, 60, assumes the job left vacant by Jiang who came to the end of his 10-year term, sealing the peaceful transition of power to a younger "Fourth Generation" of communist leaders. But while Jiang ceded the presidency, he was reappointed chairman of the state Central Military Commission and, at least in the short term, will remain China's supreme leader. The CMC chairmanship is a hugely powerful job and was the only top slot filled by Jiang's predecessor Deng Xiaoping during a decade when he acted as so-called "paramount leader". The job in essence gives Jiang, and not Hu, the ultimate power in China as whoever controls the 2.5 million strong military has historically controlled the vast country. There was only one candidate for each of the posts - in line with communist party rules - and they were elected for a duration of five years at the National People's Congress, the parliament meeting in Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People. Further strengthening Jiang's grip on power was the appointment of his right hand man Zeng Qinghong to the vice presidency. According to the constitution, Zheng would become president should the post be vacated for any reason. The other key appointment Saturday was Wu Bangguo, number two in Chinese politics, as chairman of China's 2,900-member parliament, replacing the retiring party loyalist Li Peng, 74. The poker-faced bureaucrat's new role as chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress puts him in charge of what is officially China's highest body of political power, but is in fact little more than a rubber-stamp assembly. A new premier, likely Wen Jiabao, will be elected Sunday with his government appointed Monday to complete the most profound leadership changes in a decade. |
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